Cooperation with Russia in Syria Off the Table for Trump Team

President Donald Trump's national security team is not considering any increase in cooperation with Russia against the Islamic State group in Syria, according to multiple current advisers and former officials who have seen a plan the Pentagon delivered to the White House last month to hasten the defeat of the terrorist network.

Ties between Moscow and Trump's campaign staffers and appointees have all but overshadowed his nascent presidency and reportedly spawned several congressional and law-enforcement investigations amid widespread concern about how Russian President Vladimir Putin could benefit from a Trump presidency.

Throughout the campaign and since becoming president, Trump has pointed out the benefits of cooperation with Russia and said the U.S. should be open to improving relations. During a rally in September, Trump advocated that the U.S. should turn over the war campaign to Russia, which was entrenched in Syria and working in close coordination with the regime of Bashar Assad supposedly to defeat the Islamic State group.